The liquid batteries are being eyed as potential storage mediums for power generated by wind farms or solar cells and may one day serve as backup power systems for hospitals. Hospitals today relay on massive generators for power in emergencies.

One of the MIT researchers, Don Sadoway, said, “Since these batteries won’t be in someone’s hand or in a car, we don’t have to make them crash-worthy, idiot-proof, and it doesn’t have to operate at around body temperature.”

The battery Sadoway and his team have developed has no solid materials in them from the electrodes, membranes and any other parts of the battery. The anode, cathode, and membrane of the battery designed by the team are all made from molten liquids.

The team has tried many different combinations of liquids over the years in the battery. One of the first liquid metal combinations tried was molten antimony and magnesium with sodium sulfide between the two to store energy.